Get the Right Bread Machine, So It Won't Be A Dust Collector!
Mar 29 '01 (Updated Dec 21 '02)
The Bottom Line If you make sure your bread machine has the most important features, you'll find yourself actually wanting to use it again and again!
So you've finally decided to join the crowd and spring for a bread machine, eh? I've had my Admiral bread machine for about three years now, and just love the thing! Here are some of the qualities I like the best, and I would suggest you have them on which ever machine you purchase.
1) At least 2 pound capacity.
Hey, since you're going to the time and trouble (well, really, not that much trouble!) of baking a loaf of bread, you might as well get a machine that will make a loaf large enough to last more than one day. When I made my first loaf, I made a one pounder, even though our machine is capable of two. What was I thinking? The loaf was about 5 inches by 5 inches.
What's worse, it was hard as a rock! What I didn't realize was the importance of adding the ingredients in the exact order they're listed, and poking a little well in the dry ingredients for the yeast to be placed in. I just scattered the yeast over the other ingredients, and ended up with a rather ugly, very heavy brick. Can you say DISAPPOINTED?
2) The timer.
Note ... on mine, you can set the timer in increments of ten minutes from 4 1/2 to 13 hours. Silly me, the first time I did this, it was around 9pm. I wanted to wake up to fresh bread (who wouldn't?), so I set the timer for 7 hours, thinking that meant it would start baking at 4am, and be finished about 8am ... just in time for breakfast. WRONG. Turns out the timer is set to the completion time, not the start time! My bread was done at 4am (yawn), and I learned that if you don't remove it promptly, the steam and heat makes that puppy collapse like a bridge in an earthquake. Ah, my second brick. If this trend continued, I could soon build an addition on the house made out of bread bricks!
3) Viewing window.
You really don't want to open the lid while your bread is baking, but who can resist the temptation to see what's happening in there? A window will allow you to peek at your rising bricks ... er bread, without messing up the proper temperature and humidity inside the machine.
4) Bread Completion Time Display.
A typical loaf of bread takes about 4 hours to make, and should be promptly removed from the machine. This keeps the bread from collapsing, as I mentioned above, but also keeps it from sticking to the pan or the kneading blade. Let it cool, and you'll have a heckuva time prying that baby out of the machine. Well, what if you have a life, and you want to go out while the bread machine is doing its thing? You'll want a display showing how much time is left before your bread is ready so you can plan accordingly.
5) Dough cycle.
Being the nice Jewish girl that I am, I love baking a fresh loaf of challah for Sabbath. Why, I even shared my bread machine challah recipe ages ago, right here on Epinions. For my nice gentile friends who aren't familiar with challah, it's wonderful bread which is beautifully braided. A combination of art and cuisine, really!
Well, these bread machines are really nice to have, but they're just not going to crank out a braided loaf. For that, you need to have a dough cycle. Letting my machine do all the mixing, kneading, and fussing really saves me time and headaches. After two hours of churning, rising, and churning, my challah dough is ready. I simply scoop it out of the pan, throw on a CD of Fiddler on the Roof for music to braid by, and braid away! It's really easy, fun, and my pals and more importantly, my in-laws, think I'm amazing for making challah from scratch.
6) Additional ingredients beeper.
I've made several loaves which require the addition of fruit forty minutes after the machine starts mixing the ingredients. If the timing were left to me, I'd never remember to add them! My machine has a beeper that goes off when it's time to add them. It will beep whether or not you're adding the ingredients, but it's not like it's some annoying burglar alarm screaming in your house, just a friendly little reminder that it's time to head to the machine with my fruit pieces.
I guess that summarizes what I've found to be important features of my bread machine. I hope you've found this helpful, and I wish you the best of luck in your bread baking!
Note, added December 21, 2002:
Due to several requests in my comments section, I am adding the Customer Service number here, in case you have one of these and misplaced the user's manual, or have other questions that I may not be able to answer! It's 1-800-733-6270. By the way, I've had this machine for over three years now, and it still works perfectly!
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Epinions.com ID:
pianomam
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Littleton, CO
Reviews written: 158
Trusted by: 212 members
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